NEW YORK – Sotheby's helped an art collector dodge millions of dollars in New York sales taxes, the state attorney general said in a lawsuit filed Friday, accusing the prominent auction house of accepting bogus documentation to spare a top client a tax bill.
“Sotheby’s violated the law and fleeced New York taxpayers out of millions just to boost its own sales," Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said in a statement.
Porsal agreed to pay $10.75 million in taxes, damages and penalties over allegations that it skirted sales tax on more than $50 million in art buys from various entities in New York.
Other buyers generally owe New York state and city sales tax on art purchased and delivered in the city.
Sales tax on the collector's 2010 Kapoor purchase alone would total over $126,000, according to the lawsuit.